G1 Winning Quarter Horse Jockey Cesar Gomez Dies In Plane Crash

Quarter Horse jockey Cesar Gomez is one of two individuals found dead at the site of a plane crash in Oklahoma, reports stallionesearch.com. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol found the crash site at 7 a.m. on Monday, and both Gomez and 62-year-old pilot Walter Mullaney – were pronounced dead at the scene.

According to FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford, the plane crashed at about 10 p.m. on Sunday after departing Odessa, Texas. It had requested permission to land at El Reno due to inclement weather, according to news9.com. It was reported missing after both radio and radar contact were lost; the National Transportation Safety Board will be in charge of the investigation.

Gomez began his professional riding career in 2014, and his best year was in 2015 working for trainer Kasey Willis. He guided One Fabulous Eagle to a second-place finish in Quarter Horse racing's richest race, the $3-million All American Futurity, and won the All American Gold Cup aboard Rock You.

Equibase statistics list Gomez as the winner of 245 lifetime races, with earnings of $5.4 million. He most recently rode at Remington Park on Saturday, placing third in the G3 Oklahoma Derby.

“Cesar was one of those people everyone liked,” said the Paulick Report‘s Chelsea Hackbarth, who worked with Gomez at Prairie Meadows in 2015. “He was always smiling, and always had a kind word for his horses and for his fellow horsemen. He will be missed.”